Reader Story: A Scan A Day Keeps The Doctor At Bay

This post is part of the paperless stories feature at DocumentSnap. Some stories are from readers that have successfully gone paperless, and some are still going through it. Would you like to share your story too?

Today’s short reader story is by awesome DocumentSnap reader Jim Sewell from JimSComputing.

The other day I took my mom to the heart doctor as she was having some shortness of breath and wanted it checked out. When the doctor came in he wanted to do blood work to see if her other systems were functioning properly. Of course we didn’t bring the paperwork from the labs done only 2 weeks prior. Honestly we wouldn’t have thought about it if we did still have it. I scan everything like that into Evernote when I get home with it and shred the paper.

I set my cell phone to tether-mode and used my WiFi iPad (two devices I always have with me) to log into Evernote and brought up the lab results tagged with “Medical-Labs” and “Mom”. “Here Doc, this is her recent chem panel and HA1C results!” It saved my mom a stick in the arm, extra cost, and another trip to the doctor for a follow-up!

You never know when a paperless lifestyle will pay off in an unexpected way.

Thanks Jim! This goes nicely with a hobby horse of mine: to me, going paperless isn’t about “going green” or anything like that. In my opinion, the main benefit of going paperless is you have access to the information that you need right when you need it. Avoiding another trip to the doctor is a nice side benefit.

About the Author

Brooks Duncan helps individuals and small businesses go paperless. He's been an accountant, a software developer, a manager in a very large corporation, and has run DocumentSnap since 2008. You can find Brooks on Twitter at @documentsnap or @brooksduncan. Thanks for stopping by.

Leave a Reply
4 comments

My mom is 90 and even with her macular degeneration, still lives on her own. She manages OK, but every once in a while gets very anxious about something. A few months ago, she started to call me every afternoon to ask what medicines she takes. I'm usually at my computer when she calls, so all I do is log into SafelyFiled, pick the folder I set up for her and find her medicines file. No more having to keep a piece of paper on the desk or rummage through paper files. I've even taken her calls while on a business trip and logged in with my iPhone to get the info.

One of the things I've noticed is the increase in anxiety my mom has when she can't remember something. Having the info available, no matter where I am, helps put her at ease. Going paperless really helps taking care for elderly parents.

Leave a Reply:

Leave a Reply:

My granddaughter just showed me her schedule of Jr. Olympics volleyball tournaments. A month ago I’d have gotten a pen and transcribed the dates into my notebook. I almost did, but then I remembered my iPhone and my newly installed JotNot. Snap! All set. I’ll be there for at least two tournaments.

DocumentSnap was created by Brooks Duncan (that's me). I started it in 2008 as I was going through my paperless journey. Now I share what works (and what doesn't) so you know exactly how to go paperless yourself.